Amazon and Google, both opened e-book stores in Brazil simultaneously on Thursday. Amazon also announced the upcoming commercial release of the Kindle e-reader in the South American country.

Amazon continues to make its presence felt globally and has taken a big step entering the digital world. It has now launched its digital store in Brazil with Kindle devices going on sale in "the coming weeks," priced at 299 Brazilian reals (US$143).

Google too has opened a store in Brazil on the same day and will "also began renting and selling movies through its Google Play store", Jamie Rosenberg, VP of digital content at Google, announced in a blog post. According to the blog, "Google Play content will only be accessible via desktops, and Android smartphones and tablets."

"We are excited to launch this new Kindle Store for Brazilian customers, offering the most popular best-selling books from many great Brazilian authors," Alexandre Szapiro, vice president of Amazon Kindle Brazil, said in a statement.

For potential customers who haven't bought a Kindle device, the company is introducing free Kindle reading apps in Portuguese, which automatically sync customers' library, notes, highlights, and last-page-read across all devices and apps.

"We're also bringing our latest generation Kindle - the best-selling e-reader in the world - to Brazilian customers," Szapiro announced. In the coming weeks, the device will be available for a retail price of R$299 ($143.45).

"With the launch of free Kindle reading apps in Portuguese, anyone who has an Android phone, Android tablet, iPhone or iPad, PC or Mac, can start reading Kindle books today," said Szapiro.